


Fifty words

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: 5 + 1 Things, Fluff, Geralt being a nice person, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Has Feelings, Geraskier Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but he loves Jaskier a lot, he is not good at expressing them though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:53:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23450512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: There are apparently apparently fifty words for snow.There are even more to tell someone that you love them without use those words.He's five ways Geralt told Jaskier he loved him without using those words (I love you) and one that he did use them.Greaskier fluff!!!
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 6
Kudos: 191





	Fifty words

I love you.

That’s three words that many people struggle to say, even people who are used to expressing their feelings. One can love easily, but putting it into words... It can be scary and it can lead to hurt, to rejection or to an even scarier new step in life, in relationships. And if it was difficult for people in general, for Geralt...

Geralt didn’t just struggle with love, he did so with all feelings. When he¡d trained as a Witcher he’d been told that he had to push emotion aside, that he had to become this unfeeling killing machine. And he tried, and although he never really did succeed in ridding himself of all those pesky emotions, he’d become really good at pretending he didn’t feel, and not vocalizing it.

With time, showing emotion became wrong and unnatural and he felt everyone would frown upon it, so his natural emotional incompetence was paired with some sort misguided Witcher duty code, and emotions... Well, they existed. But they were never vocalized. Never.

Which wasn’t good news for anyone, not for Geralt and certainly not for those he loved. Those he loved were far and in between... But they were always special.

Like him.

His very best friend in the whole wide world.

Geralt loved Jaskier, in each and every way, but could not, for the life of him, say it.

But there were still other ways in which he could express his not apparent but still there affection.

  1. _“I’ll wait”_



Geralt had always been a solitary creature, someone who worked and lived alone. And when it’s just you, you choose everything, where you go, what you eat, at what speed you do everything, when do you come and go. You don’t ask permission, you don’t consider outside factors. You certainly do not wait for anyone.

And yet, that was exactly what Geralt was doing, more and more, for Jaskier. Waiting for him. Not leaving until the bard was ready. Time he could be using to hunt, or drink or anything else, and he just stood there, waiting for his friend. And he would pretend that it bothered him and mutter “took you long enough” for show, but the truth was he didn’t mind. He chose to wait every time, and didn’t regret it.

It started out innocently enough, with him simply not galloping on Roach while the bard walked. Waiting for him when he got behind, that sort of thing. Then he would wait some mornings at inns until Jaskier was awake, because humans needed to sleep more than he did. Then he would wait for him when he had some singing to do in a palace.

And every time he could leave, and Jaskier was very aware of that. That while he slept or sang or did anything else of the sort Geralt could leave and they would never see each other again. But he didn’t. Geralt waited for the bard, because he wanted to keep seeing him, keep chatting with him. He complained about how long it took Jaskier to do everything kept being there.

_I want to be with you, so I wait for you_. It wasn’t an I love you, but it wasn’t that far.

2.>Stay away from him 


Jaskier had many enemies. This was a fact Geralt had come to learn fairly soon into their relationship. There was people he’d pissed off with songs, various spouses and relatives of people he’d slept with, other bards... There was a lot of people who really wanted to hurt Jaskier in one way or another, for one or many reasons. And this was not, technically, Geralt’s business. And yet...

Jaskier knew he had no right to keep using Geralt as bodyguard so after that... eventful night in the castle, he told himself (and Geralt) that he could absolutely fend for himself and that he didn’t need Geralt, at all. He’d live before him and without him, he had his ways, he could manage. But sometimes... Sometimes he didn’t need to manage.

Sometimes Geralt just stepped up without a single word from Jaskier, and looked at those offending humans with a look that said “stay away, or else”. On one occasion or two Geralt had put one of his big scary swords in the neck of someone who threatened with maiming or killing Jaskier.

And then... When a group of rascals got together to beat up the worldly nuisance/talent/adventurer that was Jaskier, a dark shadow appeared, looming over them, darkly uttering some words:

“Stay away from him.”

And you gotta love someone to defend them like that, right?

3. _Sing for me_ 


Geralt pretended to dislike Jaskier’s singing. It was not... Useful, or elevated, or angry. No, Jaskier’s singing was mostly fun, lively, or sometimes sorrowful. His singing was many things, many things that Geralt wasn’t equipped to deal with. Like joy, like heartbreak, things he didn’t know what to do with. Those songs made him feel, and Geralt didn’t often know what to do with feelings.

So he made fun of it. Pretended to dislike it. Huffed and puffed and raised eyebrows, unwilling to admit to himself just how much he enjoyed the sound of that voice, the depth of those lyrics. Better not admit anything. Better not to get there.

But sometimes... Sometimes the weight of the souls he’d taken, of the lives lost and the tragedies became a bit too much, and he needed a story to be more at peace with himself. He needed something that showed him that not everything was rotten in the world. Some beauty, some art, something worth fighting for.

“That song with the bear, and the lady who kills it in front of the knights. Sing it.”

It may not be the greatest love confession, but it was a way of showing that he loved what he did, that he wanted more.

Then Jaskier would smile, and the world got a bit brighter.

4. _I got you this_ 


Geralt had been unnecessarily rude to Jaskier the last time that they saw each other, and knew it. He’d had no right to be so disrespectful and it would be no wonder if the bard never wanted to see him again. Which was a shame, because Geralt quite wanted to see more of Jaskier.

The days, weeks and months were... slow and darkwithout him And when he added Yennefer things only got darker and more disturbing. She was great, but for some things... To lift his spirits he needed Jaskier. He had even tried other bards, but they were scared of him and often too uninteresting and/or vain for Geralt’s tastes. Only Jaskier had had the right amount of flair and vile and reckless bravery.

So now he needed him back. And he kept thinking about him.

Geralt needed something that would make up for his rude words, and his rude behaviour and his rude.... Everything. And he wasn’t good with words, or physical shows of affection (mostly) (he wasn’t bad at casual sex but he KNEW that it wouldn’t be casual with Jaskier so no) - it was going to be an object. And object with a lot of value, an object that would appeal to Jaskier personally.

And it fucking did. It really appealed to him.

The most exquisite lute, with silver and gold spun in it, with the strongest hardest materials on the strings, blessed and charmed for its protection, a present of kings.

“I got you this. I saw it and I thought of you.”

Actually, he had to fight off all the monsters of the land and then get it instead of any payment from a castle, but hey, if he wanted to make it sound easy he could make it sound easy.

“Wow, I am.... Thank you, Geralt.”

“Not a big deal.”

It was a huge deal. It meant sorry and it meant don’t leave me, and it meant you mean too much to me for things to get so fucked up. It meant a lot.

But it wasn’t like he was going to say it, right? What was he, an emotionally healthy person?

  1. 5. _Hop on_



People weren’t allowed to touch Roach. Roach was the horse of a witcher and she was the best horse in the world. And riding Roach, up there, that was Geralt’s sacred space, and even though he had no address or no family to go back to he had a home in her. That was Geralt’s turf and his alone.

When exceptions were made they were all very important occasions, life or death, running from deathly creatures, that kind of thing.

This was not that. Jaskier just looked tired and upset, and maybe like he was coming down with something. It wasn’t life or death, and Jaskier hadn’t even asked for it, but... He cared. As much as Geralt hated admitting it he cared about Jaskier, and he wanted him to be okay, and...

“Hop on. Get behind me.” he said, and Jaskier furrowed his brows. “We’ll get to the village sooner if you get on Roach.”

Of course, he didn’t say anything about being worried, about wanting him to be okay... But part of Geralt hoped that Jaskier knew all of this, that he understood and got all those words he couldn’t say.

Like how much Geralt loved him.

\+ 1

He was at ease.

Geralt was having way too much ale with an old witcher buddy of his, being himself, reminiscing of old times, laughing at common enemies’ demise, not a worry on his head, when he buddy asked:

“Say, Geralt, why do keep bringing that bard with you to every hunt?”

And before he could process it, Geralt was saying the raw, naked truth, finally free, finally spoken out loud:

“Because I love him.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you liked!
> 
> You know you wanna comment ;)


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